Transcript Seeing The Unseen - Joaquin church of Christ

• C.S. Lewis said that “one year it will be the
last November. Jesus is coming back again.
On that day everyone will see what was true
all along – that the supernatural world is as
close to you as the person who is right now
sitting on the other side of your door. There
is perfect continuity between the seen and
the unseen worlds. This is evidenced over
and over again throughout the Bible, as
“causes” in the spiritual world have “effects”
in the material world, and vice versa (Andree
Seu, 11-8-2010, Worldmag.com).“Sinful Census”
• “While we look not at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen” (2 Cor 4:18).
• “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7).
• “He was looking for the city which has
foundations, whose architect and builder is God”
- (Hebrews 11:10).
• “Considering the reproach of Christ greater riches
than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to
the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the
wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him
who is unseen” - (Hebrews 11:26-27).
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Seeing The Handiwork of God in Creation
• “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and
their expanse is declaring the work of His hands”
(Psalm 19:1).
• “For since the creation of the world His invisible
attributes, His eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly seen, being understood through
what has been made” (Romans 1:20).
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• Consider a sampling of what scientists have discovered
about our planet and solar system:
• Oxygen comprises 21 percent of the atmosphere. It if
were 25 percent, fires would erupt, if 15 percent, human
beings would suffocate.
• If the universe was expanding at a rate of one millionth
more slowly than it is, the temperature on earth would be
10,000 degrees.
• If there was even a slight variation in the speed of light,
this would alter everything else, and there would be no
life on earth.
• If Jupiter was not in its current orbit, the earth would be
bombarded with space material. Instead, Jupiter acts like
a giant vacuum cleaner, and attracts asteroids and comets
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that otherwise would hit us.
• If the centrifugal force of planetary movements did
not precisely place the gravitational forces,
nothing could be held in orbit around the sun.
• If the gravitational force were altered by 1 part in
10 to the 40th power, the sun would not exist.
• If the thickness of the earth’s crust was greater,
too much oxygen would be transferred to the crust
to support life.
• If the rotation of the earth took longer than 24
hours, temperature differences would be too great
between night and day. If the rotation were
shorter, atmospheric wind velocities would be too
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great.
Seeing the Answer to Our Prayers
• The Bible affirms that God hears and answers
prayer (Psalm 65:2; Proverbs 15:8).
• The apostles considered prayer to be so
important, that they were involved in
praying as much as they were involved in
teaching or preaching (Acts 6:4).
• It is simply amazing to realize that we have
the ability to speak words even while driving
a car, that will change the course of history.
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Seeing the Effect of Rebellion
• “The way of the treacherous is hard” (Prov 13:15).
• “The one who commits adultery with a woman is
lacking sense; He who would destroy himself does
it. Wounds and disgrace he will find” (Prov 6:32, 33).
• “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for
whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For
the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the
flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the
Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life”
(Galatians 6:7-8).
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• Over and over again, we actually get to see with
our own eyes what happens when people ignore
the reality of the spiritual realm.
• We see both the impact of sin on the ordinary
people and the elite, the small and the great.
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The Impact of One Sinner
• “But one sinner destroys much good” (Eccl 9:18).
• It was Cain who killed his brother and started an
ungodly line of people, it was Achan who
brought trouble on Israel, it was Jehu who set up
idolatry in the Northern Kingdom, it was Ahab
who brought Jezebel to Israel, it was Manasseh
would did so much damage in Judah, and in
modern times, two world wars would basically
started by the actions either one individual or a
small group.
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The Changed Lives of the Saved
• “And all those hearing him continued to be
amazed, and were saying, ‘Is this not he who
in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on
this name.” (Acts 9:21).
• The New Testament is filled with the
changed lives of people who walked away
from sins that some today say are impossible
to leave (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Peter 4:1-6).
•
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Therefore, Do Not Be Ashamed
• “The problem is that we have a tendency to speak of the
supernatural in a weird way, especially in the company of
unbelievers. I think the explanation is nothing more esoteric
than embarrassment. Jesus said that if we are ashamed of Him
before people, He will be ashamed of us before His Father
(Luke 9:26). This is a very sobering statement; He does not
soften it at all. Yet how many times have we toned down our
profession before folks we esteemed, especially the
intellectual crowd. We say ‘God’ rather than ‘Jesus’ because it
is slightly more acceptable in society. We do not deny the faith
outright but it is somehow not as sharp and clear as it ought to
be. My desire is to stop denying Christ in subtle ways, and be
able to say to anyone I converse with – the intellectual– that
‘Jesus Christ was raised from the dead’” (Andree
Seu).Census”
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• “Everyone therefore who shall confess Me
before men, I will also confess him before My
Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32).
• “Therefore do not be ashamed of the
testimony of our Lord, or of me... but join
with me in suffering for the gospel”
- (2 Timothy 1:8).
• God even expects us to not be ashamed and
to confess Christ even when we are
surrounded by much opposition (Phil 2:15).
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Conclusion
• Who Should Be Ashamed?!
• People who have never taken the time to read the
Bible! – the Creator has spoken, let us show some
interest and respect!
• People who do not take the time to worship the
God who brought them into existence.
• People who read the Bible yet remain unimpressed
or deny its obvious inspiration and truthfulness.
• People who read the Bible looking for mistakes,
contradictions, some loophole or way out.
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• People who bail on God when the going gets tough.
• People who let a handful do the hard work and fight
the battles for the souls of men.
• People who know the truth – and yet keep it hidden.
• People who hear others speak the truth and do not
come to their aid.
• People who do not pass on the truth they were
handed to the next generation.
• People who choose to live selfishly rather than a life
that reflects gratitude.
• People who love things and use people, rather than
using things and loving people.
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• Faith includes an unquestioning devotion
and belief that God is holy and is always
doing what is in our best interest.
• Romans 8:38-39 “38 For I am persuaded that
neither death nor life, nor angels nor
principalities nor powers, nor things present
nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth,
nor any other created thing, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.”
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